Rumorpile: Volvo's First EV To Be A New Compact Hatchback

Will look somewhat similar to the 40.2 Concept

Last summer, Volvo made a stunning announcement as it plans to electrify its entire lineup. This plan includes 5 electric vehicles, two from Polestar and the rest from Volvo. We've already know about Polestar EVs plans (a midsize sedan and SUV), but we haven't heard anything concerning Volvo.

That changed this week as a report from Autocar says Volvo's first EV will be a compact hatchback that will draw inspiration from the 40.2 concept shown in 2016. This makes some sense as the 40.2 concept used Volvo's Compact Modular Architecture (CMA) that was built with electrification in mind.

The 40.2 concept had an overall range of 217 miles. But when Henrik Green, Volvo’s head of R&D spoke to the publication about their general EV plans, he said they were aiming for a range of 310 miles.

“That’s the area [of range] we’re aiming at. We’re in the middle of development and we are constantly chasing new steps. It’s quite different to developing a car compared to five or 10 years ago. You set a prerequisite three or four years before a car’s launch and you ran towards that target, and if you did that well, you came out with a competitive offer," said Green.

Green also said the automaker will offer an entry-level battery, but hasn't decided on the range.

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Be interesting to see how it sells, I really hope they do hit their mark of a 310 mile range.

I can see an entry level battery pack of 150 miles as the low cost offer you see on the dealerships web site and in the news but only 1 maybe 2 at most on the lot as the rest will be the high end battery pack with the options.